Honey is used by many of us to naturally sweeten lots of things from coffee to yogurt to baked cakes. It is a syrupy liquid which easily sticks to almost any food happily giving out a sweet and delightful taste. Countless people use it instead of sugar on a daily basis considering it the healthier natural option. It is well known that the shelf life of honey is extremely long. It is in fact so long that it can lead a lot of people to wonder if honey ever goes bad. The answer is a fairly complicated one.
How Long Does Honey Last?
Many of us have heard the stories about of jars of honey being excavated from tombs in ancient Egyptian which are said to still be as ready to eat as the day that were sealed into their original jars. These Egyptian stories are the reason why lots of people have confidence in the fact that honey will never go bad. There actually some science behind this theory.
The chemical composition of honey plays an important role in creating the unique long-life quality of honey. Honey is a sugar which means that it comprises of almost no water naturally. This means that very few microorganisms that can endure within its thick gloopy structure. Fundamentally for honey to go bad, there has to be a foreign body inside it which can spoil it. Since honey is such an unwelcoming atmosphere for bacteria, it has trouble surviving long enough to ruin the honey.
Honey also comprises of a tiny volume of hydrogen peroxide, which prevents the growth of bacteria. This is why the busy bees make it for their young in the hive. Bee’s use honey for both nourishment and as protection against illnesses as it is such a good defence against bacteria. Honey can change in appearance over time though. Obviously, most foods look less palatable when they are not stored appropriately. But remember you can still safely use honey to compliment your much-loved foods even after it is supposed to have been used up.
How to Store Honey
It is possible to help honey remain fresher for longer by properly storing it in its original bottle. It will also look like it is going bad quicker if it is set aside in a dark place. Simply keep your honey in a cool place away from direct sunlight and leave it in its original securely sealed container.
Some of the benefits of good honey storage comprise of cutting down on your food costs, providing you with healthier raw ingredients, and good storage of honey will also help the environment as you will be avoiding food waste. How long honey lasts at room temperature depends on whether it has been correctly stored, then perhaps if you do this correctly, your honey will be safe to eat indefinitely.
You may be wondering if you should you refrigerate your jar of honey. Refrigeration of honey is usually not suggested, as it hastens the crystallization progression.
How to Tell If Honey Is Bad or Spoiled
Practicing appropriate hygiene practises will help prevent you from getting ill from your honey. Honey often starts to look yellow and it will go cloudy instead of remaining that golden color over a certain period of time.
Honey will also get denser and grainy over a length of time, until in the end becomes white and hard in texture. Nonetheless it will still be good to eat even if in this state it does not look so appealing. This is the process of crystallization, where the glucose in the honey naturally crystallizes. It can likewise be known as “candied” honey and is completely safe to eat.
After lengthy storage, honey may lose some of its rich flavor, but it should still be fine to eat if it has been stored correctly. It is possible to freeze honey although very few people choose to do so. Although not essential, freezing honey can help to stop the crystallization, but as this is quickly reversable anyway, freezing honey seems redundant. If you do wish to try freezing your honey, then you can place it into an airtight container and pop it into the freezer.
There are always particular health risks related to consuming spoiled foods so continually remember to maintain good food safety and enjoy your honey safely.
How to Fix Crystalized Honey
To return your honey to its natural gooey consistency, just place the honey jar into a small bowl of hot water for a short while. Otherwise, place the honey into a bowl that is safe for the microwave and warm it through for around 20 seconds. However, you do it, your honey will mysteriously return to its flowing golden liquid consistency straight away. When your honey has become crystalized, it is fairly simple to fix up hardened honey and get the runny flow back again.
Only real natural honey undergoes the process of crystallisation and these are ordinary changes which can last for hundreds of years. Processed honey that has been altered in any way will not do this and it will not preserve the normal benefits of honey if it has been processed. Natural honey contains abundant amounts of healthy vitamins and enzymes which make it a fantastic sugar replacement. For natural honey to be considered the real deal, it needs to be both unfiltered and raw.
Honey, by if left to its own devices, can be said to be everlasting in nature. nevertheless, the crucial way to uphold its endless shelf life is to make sure that your honey is kept sealed as much as imaginable. When left uncovered in a warm environment, moisture from the air may get into the honey which then permits bacteria to grow and spoil the honey. If you keep the lid tightly on your honey jar when you are not using it, your honey should last for a very long time, although finding out how good it still tastes after a long time is up to you.
Sources:
- Does Honey Really Last Forever? – Zidbits
- Honey Lasts Forever – Fact / Myth
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